Rasheed Wallace : The key

Sheed has always been an enigma. A player you can't rely on night to night. At times, he's as good as Dirk Nowitzki and other nights he looks like Troy Murphy.

This season, he has to be the man. I can't see the Pistons winning a lot of games without consistent 18 point efforts from Sheed, along with all of the intangibles. Everyone on the squad is in awe of his pure talent, but it's my belief that Ben controlled that locker room and made sure that Rasheed was accountable night in and night out.

Can he lead by example this year? Or will he be happy to continue playing 3rd fiddle to Rip and CB, perhaps even 4th fiddle should Tayshaun start asserting himself.

Joe's most important guy is #36. In my opinion, without Chauncey, we might be in the lottery, but without Sheed, there are no titles in the future.

This season, he has to be the man. I can't see the Pistons winning a lot of games with consistent 18 point efforts from Sheed, along with all of the intangibles. Everyone on the squad is in awe of his pure talent, but it's my belief that Ben controlled that locker room and made sure that Rasheed was accountable night in and night out.

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I don't think Sheed is a leader. Not at all. He's too busy making his sarcastic, oddball comments to the media to be having anyone's back. And now Ben doesn't have his.

Thing is, it won't happen. It just won't. Sheed is Sheed. He's not going to change all of a sudden. If he was going to do that... it would have been last year after the Horry play. Nope. We will just have to take him as he is.

He sure is fun to watch when he's ON though.

I'm HOPING the Brahma plays a large role this year. IMO that could really make things happen.

Wallace needs to step up and carry us in spurts...not be the man all season long. Thats what this team needed. For guys to step up. They have to get sheed on a roll and then ride him. he CAN do it. But he doesn't have to be doing it all the time.

Wallace needs to step up and carry us in spurts...not be the man all season long. Thats what this team needed. For guys to step up. They have to get sheed on a roll and then ride him. he CAN do it. But he doesn't have to be doing it all the time.

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The thing is...Sheed doesn't want to play that role. He was under that gun in Portland and grew to hate it...one of the reasons he loved coming here where he had Ben to share the frontcourt with.

I cannot see Sheed buckling down and playing his best the a whole season. It is just not in his nature.

So, if you are looking for one most important player on the Pistons, night after night, it will have to be Rip. He brings it every night and if a night comes along that his shots are not falling, so be it, but he is in there on every play, going flat out.

If they decide to have another consistent player, the next name that steps out is Chauncey, but Sheed (and Tayshaun to a much lesser extent) have the tendency to disappear for long periods of time.

Tayshaun seems to disappear more on the offensive end while keeping consistency on defense, but Sheed will disappear for entire nights. I like the guy and he has his moments, but he is Sheed and always has been.

And Dyce will not be that guy because if he plays more minutes on a regular basis, he will get hurt.

Maybe if Fino gets more minutes to relieve Tayshaun, Taysh will be more consistent for the long season.

I think Sheed will do what Flip tells him to do. Play a high post pick and roll game where he wanders around outside and launches 3's. Not much rebounding, but maybe a slightly higher scoring average with Nazr's man having to play defense.

I just found a game from 2000 when sheed was playing for the blazers. he pretty much owned the lakers in that game, i think he scored 20 in the first half. he's got it in him, maybe he will be more motivated this season. i'm hoping anyway. chick hearn said he was the best player in the entire nba about 10 times in that game. as a side note, i think he took only 1 three-pointer in the game. the rest was all inside and short range jumpers. i would love to see more of that to accompany his now dangerous outside shooting.

he doesn't have to be 'the man', he's got some awesome teammates. you can still dominate periods in the game and score 20 points a night without being 'the man'. rip has been scoring 20+ a game for the past few seasons. would anyone call him 'the man'?

either way, i think this could be a defining year for sheed, he will either elevate his game, or fade away into oblivion.

Let`s not forget folks, we are talking about the Pistons here. We have superstars, but please let them remaim under the radar. We all know what Sheed can do, but let Sheed be Sheed.

Giving him the pressure of carrying this team can spell doom in the long run. Rip, Tay, CB, and perhaps someone of the bench can take turns being the "man"

I know there are some here that believe we need a superstar or two to carry our team and get that foul call from time to time, I disagree with that. We have the players currently that could enjoy those benefits.

JUST TAKE THE BALL TO THE FREAKIN HOOP!!!!!!!!!

At the end of the day, our team will not have Sheed or anyone else IMO, to be the key perhaps, but collectively remain successful.

Pistons fans criticize Sheed for taking more outside shots, but a lot of players migrate further away from the hoop the older they get. Look at Jordan. He rarely mixed it up inside in his later years. Sure, we need more post hoops from Sheed, but he's ultimately gonna do what he wants to do. And Flipper won't mind a bit -- the outside shots, I mean.

My impressions of Sheed. When he 1st came here the team described him as somewhat of a cameleon that takes on the attitude of the team. Portland was not very positive so he was influenced by that. He came here great locker room and was a positive player.

Last year he let a lot of things going wrong with the team influence him. In the ORL game when Ben refused to go back in - he did as well. In lot of ways Bens problems had an effect on him.

So perhaps now if the whole team is on the same page then his attitude and play will improve.

His tendancy though to defer and hit 3's will never change. But with a renewed positive locker room his team citizenship and play will improve.

Hopefully he can even get himself to not let a couple of bad calls take him out of a game.

Of course he is the key. Rasheed can be just as good as TD and KG. In Portland he almost lead that team to The Finals by himself. If he's on this team might be 07 champions.

People say that he won't change though. People do change though, but it takes something big to change a guy for better or for worse. Usually when something bad happens to a guy they realize they have to change in a better way. If things go well people change for the worse.

2 of the worst things just happened to the Pistons this last season. 1 of them was all of Sheed's fault and the other wasn't his fault, but he'll be effected by it. Now we'll see if he'll be effected in a good way or bad way.

First of all, I think the unreliable tag is untrue. Night in and night out Sheed is one of the best interior defenders in the league. While his offensive intensity does vaccilate, it is always turned way up for big games (barring sprained ankles and plantar fasceitus).

That said, Sheed is not the personality type to be the dominant force whose will drives the team. Do the Pistons have a guy hungry and driven enough to dominate the locker room and push the team?

The year before the championship, in the home game against the Lakers, Chauncey Billups challanged Kobe Bryant and went right at him. Chauncey had a look on his face and a glare in his eye. That glare in his eye stayed there all the way to NBA finals MVP. The next year I saw that glare in his eye once. It was the game against Washington right before the all-star break, Arenas had made the team while Chauncey was left off.

The team seems to be set up to be Chauncey's team. Is he hungry and driven enough to get it done? I doubt it. You are right that someone else may have to assert themselves and grab the reins. I wouldn't count on Sheed for this, he is more like Pippen than Jordan, more like David Robinson than Avery Johnson. The leader doesn't have to be the best player, but to win it all someone has to step up and fill that role.

My impressions of Sheed. When he 1st came here the team described him as somewhat of a cameleon that takes on the attitude of the team. Portland was not very positive so he was influenced by that. He came here great locker room and was a positive player.

Last year he let a lot of things going wrong with the team influence him. In the ORL game when Ben refused to go back in - he did as well. In lot of ways Bens problems had an effect on him.

So perhaps now if the whole team is on the same page then his attitude and play will improve.

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This makes a lot of sense. It makes clear his surface personality. It also might mean that another (new) player could make a huge difference for the club. This was one of the main reasons I wanted to see Harrington make it to the pistons. He would have made a huge influence in many directions. I really thought that JD would pull this one out. I can't believe he is not working on something along this route. Draft picks will not help.

I didn't know this about Sheed refusing to go back into the game. And people still have the audacity to knock Flip...amazing!

First of all, I think the unreliable tag is untrue. Night in and night out Sheed is one of the best interior defenders in the league. While his offensive intensity does vaccilate, it is always turned way up for big games (barring sprained ankles and plantar fasceitus).

That said, Sheed is not the personality type to be the dominant force whose will drives the team. Do the Pistons have a guy hungry and driven enough to dominate the locker room and push the team?

The year before the championship, in the home game against the Lakers, Chauncey Billups challanged Kobe Bryant and went right at him. Chauncey had a look on his face and a glare in his eye. That glare in his eye stayed there all the way to NBA finals MVP. The next year I saw that glare in his eye once. It was the game against Washington right before the all-star break, Arenas had made the team while Chauncey was left off.

The team seems to be set up to be Chauncey's team. Is he hungry and driven enough to get it done? I doubt it. You are right that someone else may have to assert themselves and grab the reins. I wouldn't count on Sheed for this, he is more like Pippen than Jordan, more like David Robinson than Avery Johnson. The leader doesn't have to be the best player, but to win it all someone has to step up and fill that role.

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I disagree with Sheed's intensity DEFENSIVELY from night to night. Do you know how many nights where I had to watch Sheed REFUSE to get a hand up on an open shooting PF? Sheed had 27pts scored on him by a rookie named IKE DIOGU, he had Bosh drop 37 on him, he had Zach Randolph tear him a new one. Sheed RARELY comes to play and he ONLY STEPS up when SHEED feels like stepping up. For a fanbase that seems so big on Piston's DNA, I wonder why Sheed has gotten a free pass for so long?

Well i guess yes indeed if davidson wants to see his team to be on top i guess sheed has to step-up..my only concern this season is yes big ben is a LOSS but we still have four remaining all-start on the team..My only question is"IS SHEED hungry enough?" he has a good contract? He has an NBA ring? So wat more can the guy ask for? this season is a make or break season for this guys...so lets wait and see..

Is this team too much in the image of Joe d? There is a inner competativeness but not an overt one. I think this is what the team will miss the most...someone whose competativeness overflows and infuses the team.